Duke receiver keeps catching on

Published: Friday, October 5, 2012 at 05:30 PM.

DURHAM
— The primary goal for Duke’s
Conn
er Vernon is putting Duke on the right path in his final season in a Blue Devils uniform.

Add to that, he’s in position to become the most distinguished receiver in
Atlantic
Coast Conference history.

“I’m pretty confident if we’re in position to be in a bowl game that those marks will come,”
Vernon
said. “Those records are not the main goal by any means. The main goal is getting this team to where it belongs.”

Saturday against visiting
Virginia
,
Vernon
is bound to take a spot atop the ACC list for career catches. One more reception will give him 233 and pull him out of a tie with former Clemson receiver
Aar
on Kelly.

DURHAM — The primary goal for Duke’s Conner Vernon is putting Duke on the right path in his final season in a Blue Devils uniform.

Add to that, he’s in position to become the most distinguished receiver in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

“I’m pretty confident if we’re in position to be in a bowl game that those marks will come,” Vernon said. “Those records are not the main goal by any means. The main goal is getting this team to where it belongs.”

Saturday against visiting Virginia, Vernon is bound to take a spot atop the ACC list for career catches. One more reception will give him 233 and pull him out of a tie with former Clemson receiver Aaron Kelly.

The Duke senior has caught a pass in every game in which he has played and he has made two or more grabs in 39 of 40 career games. His streak of at least one catch in 40 consecutive games is the longest active mark in the country.

“This offense puts me in position to make plays,” Vernon said.

For Duke coach David Cutcliffe, those aren’t ordinary plays that have defined Vernon, who’s from Miami.

“Big plays at big times,” Cutcliffe said.

Most of the passes that Vernon has caught have come from Sean Renfree.

“It’s coming to the point now, I know what he’s thinking, he knows what I’m thinking,” Vernon said of his relationship with Renfree, also a senior.

But Renfree’s status for Saturday has been described as a game-time decision because of an elbow injury suffered last week at WakeForest.

Vernon made five catches (matching his season low) against WakeForest to tie the record. Still, there was a bigger reward.

“Finally to be 1-0 in the ACC,” he said.

The amount of team success, Vernon said, ultimately will be the most important aspect of the season.

“I’m in position at the end of this year to have a pretty good career,” Vernon said in the preseason. “Hopefully, I leave here as the all-time leader in ACC history. It’s an opportunity I was given that I probably wouldn’t have been able to have at any other school. I’m thankful to the whole Duke community for bringing me here.”

A year ago, Vernon became the first player in ACC history to post 70-plus catches in back-to-back seasons. He has 34 receptions this season, with three of those resulting in touchdowns.

Cutcliffe said Vernon became demanding of younger players during the past summer, an indication that he was driven to push the Blue Devils to a better place.